2018 Florida Statutes

(1) “Affirmative consent” means that the recipient of electronic mail expressly consented to receive the message either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for the recipient’s consent or at the recipient’s own initiative. A recipient is deemed to have given affirmative consent if the electronic mail message is from a person other than the person to whom the recipient directly communicated consent if clear and conspicuous notice was given to the recipient that the recipient’s electronic mail address could be transferred to another person for the purpose of that person initiating the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message to the recipient.

(2) “Assist in the transmission” means to provide substantial assistance or support that enables a person to formulate, compose, send, originate, initiate, or transmit a commercial electronic mail message when the person providing the assistance knows or has reason to know that the initiator of the commercial electronic mail message is engaged in or intends to engage in a practice that violates this chapter. “Assist in the transmission” does not include:

(a) Actions that constitute routine conveyance of such message; or

(b) Activities of any entity related to the design, manufacture, or distribution of any technology, product, or component that has a commercially significant use other than to violate or circumvent this part.

(3) “Commercial electronic mail message” means an electronic mail message sent to promote the sale or lease of, or investment in, property, goods, or services related to any trade or commerce. This includes any electronic mail message that may interfere with any trade or commerce, including messages that contain computer viruses.

(4) “Computer virus” means a computer program that is designed to replicate itself or affect another program or file in the computer by attaching a copy of the program or other set of instructions to one or more computer programs or files without the consent of the owner or lawful user. The term includes, but is not limited to, programs that are designed to contaminate other computer programs; compromise computer security; consume computer resources; modify, destroy, record, or transmit data; or disrupt the normal operation of the computer, computer system, or computer network. The term also includes, but is not limited to, programs that are designed to use a computer without the knowledge and consent of the owner or authorized user and to send large quantities of data to a targeted computer network without the consent of the network for the purpose of degrading the targeted computer’s or network’s performance or for the purpose of denying access through the network to the targeted computer or network.

(5) “Department” means the Department of Legal Affairs.

(6) “Electronic mail address” means a destination, commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic mail may be sent or delivered.

(7) “Electronic mail message” means an electronic message or computer file that is transmitted between two or more telecommunications devices; computers; computer networks, regardless of whether the network is a local, regional, or global network; or electronic devices capable of receiving electronic messages, regardless of whether the message is converted to hard copy format after receipt, viewed upon transmission, or stored for later retrieval.

(8) “Initiate the transmission” means the action taken by the original sender with respect to a commercial electronic mail message.

(9) “Interactive computer service” means any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically, but not limited to, a service or system that provides access to the Internet and the systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.

(10) “Internet domain name” means a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an Internet host or service, which is assigned through centralized Internet naming authorities and which is comprised of a series of character strings separated by periods, with the right-most string specifying the top of the hierarchy.

(11) “Person” means any individual, group of individuals, firm, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, or any other business entity.

(12) “Routine conveyance” means the transmission, routing, relaying, handling, or storing, through an automatic technical process, of an electronic mail message for which another person has identified the recipients or provided the recipient addresses. This does not include any routine conveyance which is deliberately intended to assist persons in violating this part.

(13) “Trade or commerce” means the advertising, soliciting, providing, offering, or distributing, whether by sale, rental, or otherwise, of any goods or service, or any property, whether tangible or intangible, or any other article, commodity, or thing of value, wherever situated.

(14) “Unsolicited commercial electronic mail message” means any commercial electronic mail message that is not a transactional or relationship message and is sent to a recipient without the recipient’s affirmative or implied consent.